The One Time
by alexsonnn
Summary: There was only one time that Ian Rider ever ran out on a mission. Another one-shot that popped into my head. Could be nothing, could be something. Let me know! Set as soon as Alex turns fourteen but before Ian's dead.


Ian hated having to leave like he did. He promised his nephew he would pick him up from school and that they were going to spend the whole weekend together. And now here he was on his way to the airport. Looking at the clock on the stereo he saw that Alex would be looking for his uncle to pick him up, instead he would see Jack honking her horn excitedly in an effort to take his mind off the fact that his uncle had stood him up yet again. Ian knew he owed Jack more than he could imagine for helping smooth things over when he had to leave.

He knew Alex would forgive him, no questions asked. But Ian would feel so guilty about it he would go out and find some elaborate way to make it up to the boy. The elder Rider knew that gifts and exotic vacations wasn't what Alex wanted though.

Sighing, he looked down at his passport and his airline ticket. First class flight to Russia. He had no idea when or if he would be back. Putting all negative thoughts aside he parked the car, grabbed his duffel bag and began his walk into the airport.

He looked at his watch. He had nearly half an hour before his plane would board. He loaded his luggage before pulling out his phone. He supposed he could at least call Alex and explain it to him himself.

Ian was slightly put out when Alex's phone went straight to voicemail. That was weird. Alex usually always had his phone on, he was a teenager after all. Shrugging it off he could only hope the teen would call him back before his flight took off. God knows he wouldn't be able to call his nephew once the mission started. Ian was going deep undercover and most likely wouldn't be back for, at least, a few weeks.

He thought about calling Jack, Alex would most likely be with her at the moment. It was a Friday night so the teen wouldn't leave the house to hang out with his friends until around six. But he quickly put calling the ill tempered American out of his mind. If he called Jack he most likely wouldn't get to talk to Alex anyways, instead he would get to hear Jack yell at him about his priorities and what not. He looked over to see that the plane was now boarding passengers now. He figured it would be better to wait for lift off in a comfortable first class seat than in the plastic one he was currently in.

He walked over and handed the stewardess his ticket she smiled at him.

"Have a good flight, sir."

Ian's polite response was cut off as his phone went off. He looked at his caller ID. It was Jack. He contemplated not answering it but something told him he would regret it if he didn't, and knowing he wouldn't be able to talk on the plane he stepped out of the way of the other boarding passengers and accepted the call.

"Yes, Jack?" He asked.

Ian had to jerk the phone away from his ear as Jack sobbed into it. He couldn't understand a word she was saying. Growing uneasy he attempted to calm the hysterical woman down.

"Jack...Jack...You have to calm down I can't understand you, what's wrong?"

He heard her take a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself and he thought he heard the sound of an ambulance roaring off in the background.

"Ian, you have to come home...now. It's...Alex." Jack managed to sob out in such a whisper that Ian almost didn't catch it.

"What about, Alex?" Ian asked. His nephew's phone going to voicemail and the ambulance wails were causing unpleasant thoughts to form in his mind.

"He was hit by a..." Her sobbed were muffling her words again. Ian heard a car door slam and her car's engine roaring to life, followed by tires screeching off.

"Hit by what, Jack?"

"A hit and run driver outside his...school. I can't get the paramedics to tell me anything because I'm not a _relative_. Ian Rider you get your ass here now. I will not wait until you get home from your little business meeting to find out what's going on with Alex." Jack's hysteria had quickly morphed into anger. Anger that was currently trained on him.

"Hit and run? How bad, Jack?" Ian asked.

"I don't know he was unconscious and not moving when I got over there too him, he still hasn't woke up as far as I know. I couldn't ride in the ambulance with him so I'm following behind in my car."

"Sir? If you're planning on getting on this plane you need you end your call and find a seat on the plane now." The stewardess interrupted with a overly sweet smile.

It took a split second for Ian to make his decision. Alan Blunt could kiss his ass, his boy needed him.

"No, I'm not boarding." He said to her before speaking into his phone as he took off to his car at a run, "Jack, I'm on my way. Hold tight."

Without waiting on an answer he hung up his phone and began his agonizingly long journey to his nephew.

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Ian thundered into the hospital at a run. He found Jack arguing in a infuriated manner with a nurse.

"Jack!" He yelled.

"Finally!" She said throwing her hands up in despair, "_Now._ His uncle's here, now will you _please_ tell me what's going on with Alex?"

The nurse looked over to Ian.

"You're Alex Rider's uncle and caretaker?" She asked looking down at her chart.

"Yes, now please do as the lady asked and tell us what's going on with my nephew." Ian ordered.

The nurse didn't seem to hear him though as she handed him paper work.

"Fill this out. I'll go see if I can get any sort of news for you from one of his doctors."

And with that she left.

Ian sighed as he walked over and sat down in a waiting room chair.

"Do you have a pen? I don't know how she expects me to do this without a pen." Ian said irritatedly.

Jack rummaged around in her purse and produced a bright pink pen, if the situation wasn't so grim he would have complained about it, but this was neither the time nor place.

He took it and began writing before looking over to Jack.

"I'm going to put you on Alex's next of kind list as soon as possible, that way this won't happen again." He said apologetically.

Jack laughed bitterly, "Great idea, Ian. Do you have any idea what I've been through today? For the last hour I've been told at least a thousand different times that 'I cannot be informed of Alex Rider's injuries because I'm not family.'" She said mockingly.

Ian knew that really hurt Jack. She considered each of the Riders family and being told that she wasn't apart of their little dysfunctional family was like a punch to the face to her.

"I'm going to fix it." He insisted.

Jack sighed.

After a few moments of silence he looked up from his writing and over to Jack.

"What happened?" He asked.

Jack looked sadly over to the man beside her.

"Alex was saying goodbye to Tom. He looked up and saw me waving at him and he started walking towards me. The car came out of now where and hit him. The driver didn't even stop. But one of the kids said they saw the license plate number. The police are looking into it."

Ian nodded, there would be more than looking into it if he had anything to say about it.

He finished the forms and turned it into the front desk. He sat back down beside Jack and noticed she was texting someone on Alex's phone.

"His phone's okay? I called it earlier and it went straight to voicemail. I figured it broke when he got hit." Ian observed.

Jack shook her head, "No, his phone was in his hand when he got hit, it landed near Tom...that's who I'm talking to now. He's pretty worried about Alex."

Ian nodded, "He's a good friend."

But the man's thoughts were somewhere else. If Alex's phone was okay then that meant that Alex declined his phone call on purpose. It seemed that the teen was more than a little upset with him.

Ian's stomach flipped as he saw a doctor with jet black hair walking towards them with a grim expression on his face.

He stood up and shook hands with the doctor as he approached them. Ian felt Jack tense beside him so he put a hand gently on her back in a comforting movement.

"Ian Rider?" The doctor asked.

"Yes."

"I'm Doctor Manning. I worked on your nephew in the operating room."

"How is Alex?" Jack asked.

Doctor Manning sighed, "Alex has sustained many injuries in his accident. He hit his head during his fall and has a pretty severe concussion, he cracked his pelvis and broke three ribs. His shoulder was dislocated and he broke his wrist. His body's covered with bruises and he also had a lot of internal bleeding that we had to fix. Good news is all of these injuries will heal in time. He's just going to be uncomfortable for awhile. All in all he's a really fortunate boy."

"Can we see him?"

"Absolutely. Though if you're planning on staying through the night only one of your will be able to do that. Follow me, please." Doctor Manning replied, motioning for them to follow him deep into the hospital.

When they arrived at Alex's room and went in the doctor went in and check his vitals.

Jack took one look at the boy and began to cry softly so as to not wake the boy up.

Ian had a heard look on his face a he gazed at his nephew.

The phrase 'hit by a car' certainly fit perfect here. The boy looked terrible. He was pale and was sweating slightly with a slight expression of pain in his face.

"Why's he sweating?" Ian asked.

Manning looked at the the charts in his hands.

"It seems he has a slight fever. Not really anything to worry about unless it starts to spike."

"And the pain he's in?"

"We need him to wake up to check the concussion he has. After he wakes up we will put him on a better pain killer. Though it will have to be mild with the concussion he has."

Ian nodded grimly. This was going to be a hard night. And he was going to be by the teen's side through the whole thing. He couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for the whole thing anyways. If he would not have stood Alex up this whole mess might have been avoided.

The doctor excused his self and Jack approached the right side of Alex's bed. Ian pulled up a cushioned seat, getting ready to settle himself in for the night.

"Ian, do you want me to stay with him?" Jack asked.

"Of course not," Ian said firmly, his eyes not leaving the teen asleep in the bed.

Then Ian's phone began to vibrate again and he pulled it out, knowing who it was. Before he answered the phone he walked out of Alex's room.

"Rider," He answered.

"You care to explain why you weren't on that plane to Russia?" Alan Blunt's voice echoed through his ear.

"It's Alex. He's in the hospital. I couldn't just leave."

"Isn't that why you hired that housekeeper? To avoid problems like this?"

"Not when my nephew has been hit by a car and there's a possibility of him dying, _sir. _And I'm sure you have more than enough agents to take this mission. You do know that I'm not the only agent in this agency, right?" Ian asked.

"You're lucky that we managed to find way to save the mission, Rider. You almost ruined everything."

"And if I had? What would you possibly do, Alan? Fire me? Don't do me any favors. Now if you'll excuse me I have to check on my nephew."

And with that Ian ended the call and walked back into the hospital room

"That was your boss, wasn't it? Are you in trouble for not taking the flight?" Jack asked.

She was perched on the very edge of Alex's bed rubbing his arm gently.

"Ah, he'll get over it," Ian replied, taking his spot back in his chair.

"Aren't you afraid you'll get fired?"

"Not to sound too arrogant, but I'm too good at my job for that man to fire me. Getting fired is the least of my worries at the moment."

Jack nodded and stood up, "Well I think visiting hours are over. Do you want me to bring you back something to eat or a change of clothes?"

Ian shook his head, "No, I'll get something from the vending machines or something. And you can just bring me some clothes tomorrow if you can."

She nodded and patted the man's shoulder gently, "You got it."

And with that Ian was alone with his sleeping teen.

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It was nearly two hours before Alex began to stir. It was beginning to drive Ian crazy. Not because he was bored but because he was anxious to see Alex awake. So when Alex began to groan pitifully he leaned in to the boy's line of view.

Alex looked wearily up at his uncle.

"Ian?" He whispered.

"Yeah, kid. You know you certainly know how to grab some one's attention you know that?"

Alex's face looked confused, "What happened?"

"You got hit by a car when Jack was picking you up after school."

"I thought you were going to pick me up?" Alex asked as he tried to move and wound up groaning in pain.

"I had to go on a business trip. It came up suddenly, Alex." Ian said getting up and walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" Alex asked almost desperate.

"I'm getting your doctor. Don't worry I'm not going anywhere." Ian said opening the door and stopping a nurse.

"Alex Rider's awake, could you tell Doctor Manning?" He asked. The nurse nodded swiftly and walked off to find the man.

Ian walked back over and grabbed Alex's hand.

"What's wrong with me?" Alex asked hoarsely.

Ian reached over and grabbed a nearby thing of water with a straw in it.

"Here," he said helping the teen take a few sips before sitting it back down, "you have a concussion, broken ribs, cracked pelvis, broken wrist, dislocated shoulder, and some internal bleeding they had to take care of. And the bruises all over your body. You're pretty banged up, just take it easy."

"If you had a business trip to go on why are you here?"

Ian looked at the teen confused, "Alex, you're hurt. You could have died. Why wouldn't I be here?"

Alex looked away but said nothing.

Doctor Manning then walked in.

"Well, it's good to see you awake, Alex. I know you're probably in some pain at the moment, I'm going to fix that now." He said injecting something into the IV.

Immediately Alex's face relaxed a bit, but the pain was still lingering.

"I know the pain's not completely gone but we can't give you anything stronger until your concussion has subsided some." He said once again checking Alex's vitals on the monitor beside Alex's bed.

"It seems you're doing fine. Just try to be still and get some rest." The doctor said leaving the room.

Ian was silent for a few moments before saying, "you didn't answer my question. Why wouldn't I be here if you're hurt?"

"It just...seems like you don't want to be around me lately." Alex said in such a low voice Ian almost didn't hear it.

And when he did register what the teen said all he could do was sit there dumbfounded. Alex really thought that?

But before the man could think of a way to respond to this Alex cut him off.

"Ian, I'm really tired, can I just go to sleep?"

The elder Rider nodded, "of course, Alex. Get some rest, I'll be here when you wake up."

Alex nodded and was soon resting peacefully, leaving his uncle awake and feeling incredibly guilty.

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Ian Rider seriously considered letting Ash raise Alex when John and Helen died. He wasn't ready to be a father yet and he hadn't been picked to be the boy's godfather in the first place. But for some reason he just couldn't let Alex go with Ash. Mostly because he thought John was out of his mind when he named Ash godfather. But being the supportive brother that he was, he kept his mouth shut.

Ian was devastated when John died and he thought that the only way he could still be close to his brother was to take in his child. And boy was he right about that. Nearly everything that the teen did somehow reminded him of one of the boy's parents. At first Ian wasn't sure he could do it but Alex was such a good baby and now that he was growing up, Ian liked hanging out with his nephew. Alex made raising a kid easy.

Now he was in a dilemma though. His nephew that he raised as his own child thinks that he doesn't like to spend time with him.

Alex had slept peacefully through the night without waking up to the pain which surprised Ian.

Now the teen was awake and picking at a burger Jack smuggled him in from Mcdonalds.

"Alex, eat it or you can eat this nasty hospital food. Your choice." Jack said through a big mouthful of her own food.

"I'm really not that hungry right now, Jack. Maybe later." Alex said laying the food down on the rollaway tray.

They had moved the front of the bed up so Alex could see the television better. But Alex was hardly watching it.

Alex hadn't spoken two words to him since last night and Ian was at loss for what to do. Jack was picking up on the uncomfortableness between the two of them and was doing her best to fill the uncomfortable silences.

She finally got fed up though and looked pointedly at Ian.

"I'm going to see if I can find myself a cute single doctor. It'll give you two a chance to _talk_."

And just like that, Ian was left alone with Alex, who was looking tiredly down at the blanket draped across him.

"Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"We have to talk," Ian stated.

"That's what Jack said, we don't _have_ to," Alex replied.

Ian sighed, this was not going to be easy.

"I don't want you to ever think that I don't want to be around you. When I go on a trip it's because I my job makes me. If I could find a way to do it from the house I would but it's just not the way it works. And most of all I love spending time with you is what I look forward to when I come home...well...besides my own bed." He joked before becoming serious once more, "And...I know we don't talk about your dad a lot but when he died I didn't know what I was going to do. But, the more I took care of you and raised you, the more happy I became. Alex, if something happened to you I have no idea what I'd do...Okay? You gotta know that."

Alex's head had snapped up at the mention of his father coming out of the man's mouth. John Rider was a subject Ian _never_ brought up without being prompted.

The teen nodded sheepishly, "Okay."

Ian nodded and sat back, "_Now,_ all we have to discuss the proper way to cross the street. You think you can handle that, blondie?"

Alex laughed as he shook his head.

And just like that, they were back to normal.

**A/N- I don't know how I like this one, it popped into my head and this is what came out. And I know the end is horrible...I just couldn't think of a way to end it.**

** And no offense to anybody that happens to be blonde...I just couldn't help **

** Hope someone likes is :D**

** Review please?:D**


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